Supporting and locking device.



F. SMITH.

SUPPORTING AND LOCKING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED MAYI6, I916.

Patented oat. 9,1917

2 SHEETS-SHEET l- F. SMITH.

SUPPORTING AND LOCKING DEVICE.

APPLICATION mu) MAY 16. I9I6.

Patented 0011.9,1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 snow Wow wizbmewo 6mm, I

FREDERICK SMITH, or DARBY, PENNSYLVANIA.

SUPPORTING AND LOCKING nnvrcn'.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented oat. e, 1917'.

Application filed MaylG, 1916. Serial No. 9 2,970.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, FREDERICK SMITH, acitizen of the United States, residing at Darby, in the countyofDelaware and State of Pennsylvania, have invented new and usefulImprovements in Supporting and Looking Devices, of which the following,is a specification.

An object ofthe invention is to provide a device for supporting andlocking an element in position to prevent use of the latter until a tollfor the use ofthe element has been registered or paid.

The invention is particularly adaptedto the receivers of telephones ininstances where the proprietor of a store, or the like is put to thetrouble and expense of notifying a neighbor that he or she is desired-atthe telephoneof the proprietor to answer a phone call by anotherparty,.who being unable to communicate direct with the neighbor,telephones to the .store nearest the, neighbors home or in the immediatevicinity. In a situation of this character, where there is no lock orother device provided for retaining the telephone or a part thereof inan inoperative position until the store keeper is compensated for thetime of his clerk in calling the party to the phone, it has been foundthat the act of the proprietor or storekeeper is regarded in the natureof a favor and even despite notices'conspicuously posted, regarding atoll for this char acter of service, the proprietor receives nocompensation for the services of his clerk, store and phone placed tothe use and in terest of the person called to the instrument to answerthe call.

With this in mind I provide a device that can be conveniently attachedto a wall, bracket orto a table or other surface and with which thereceiver of the telephone is associated and looked after the proprietorhas answered the summons to the phone and has been asked to send hisclerk to a neigh-; boring house to summon the desired personto thephone. Now when the party wanted"v reaches the phone it will benecessary for the former to deposit a coin in the device in order towork the unlocking'of the receiver so that the phone can be used. Thusthe proprietor of the store isvas'sured of the toll specified by him asbeing suflicient to pay for the trouble and expense he has been put toinorder to bring, the desired party to his telephone,

In the further disclosure of the invention, reference is to be had tothe accompanying drawings, constituting apart of th'iss'pecifi cation inwhich similar characters of refer encedenote corresponding parts. in;all the views,;and in whichv v 1 Figure 1 is a perspective view of thedevice showingthe same in use, V 1 Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinalsectional view taken through the device, v

v Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line 33 of Fig. 2,

Fig. 4: is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 4 4 in Fig. 2,and

. Fig. 5 is aperspective view of mechanism removed from its casing. v

Fig. 6 is a side elevation of a slightly modified form of the invention,showing the sameinuse; y 7

Fig. 7 is a vertical section;

I Fig.v 8 is a perspective, view of'the lockingdevice removed from thecasing; and

, Fig; 9 is a'planv view of the locking device assembled.

Referring more particularly to the views,

I disclose .a casing, 10 of a substantially cylindrical formation, theinner end of the casing being formed to fit over the circular flange 11of a back 12, suitably secured to a wall 13. A locking barflt is mountedto turn in bearings 15 in the casing and has a reduced portion 16'received in a bayonet slot 17 of a projection 18011 the back12, when thelocking bar is. turned sothat the reduced portion can readily pass into1 the A subsequent,

narrow portion of the slot. quarter turn of the locking bar, when thereduced portion lies in theflarge portion of the bayonet slot, tends tolock the locking bar relative to the projection 18 as shown in Fig. 2thus locking the casing. 10 tothe back 12 as will be readily perceived.The turning of the locking bar 14 can be-readily accomplished from theexterior of the casing by insertinga key'(not shown) in an open ing 1 9communicating with one of the bear- I ings 15, and which for thispurpose is tubular throughout, thus enabling the key to be engaged withan end of the locking bar to turn thesame as desired.

The casing 10 is provided near its front end with a wall 20 having anopening 21, the wall being spaced from the front edge of thecasing andin fact forming two cham bers, 22, 23, the former being for thereception of the mechanism and also constituting a coin box while thelatter chamber 23, receives the head end 24 of a telephone receiver 25.It will be noted that a shield or guard 26 is provided immediatelyadjacent the front end of the casing, said shield forming a wall portionfor one end of the chamber 23 and constituting a holding means for thetelephone receiver as will hereinafter more clearly appear.

The wall 20 supports, on its inner face, a segmental element or frame 28having lugs 29- projecting rearward from the frame to swingingly supporta locking element 30, in the nature of an arm, and formed at its frontend into a gripping member 31 and a somewhat curved or hooked handle 32,the front end of the casing 10 at its top being provided with alongitudinal slot 33 in which the locking element operates and a crossslot 34 for the reception of a coin. An escutcheon 35 is soldered orotherwise secured to the casing and has slots 36, 37 registering withthe slots 33, 34, thus facili tating the guiding of the locking element30', in its movement. The rear end of the locking element 30 is formedto provide a depending coin chute 38, normally in registration with theslot 34. The coin chute 38 is arranged in superposition to a latch 39pivoted on the frame 28, the latch having a depending balancing tail 40at its rear end and terminating at its front end in an extension orhandle 41 projecting into the opening 21 in the wall 20, a tongue 42formed with the latch being arranged to extend r'earwardly beyond thepivotal mounting of the latch and into an opening 43in the coin chute38.. V

In the use of the device described I will assume that a. person hasphoned to a store having a telephone and the structure described andthat it is desired that the pro? pri'etor'of the store send out for theparty wanted at the phone, the proprietor in such an instance beingentitled to charge a toll for the service rendered. The proprietortherefore places the head end of the receiver 25 in the chamber 23 asshown in Figs. 1 and 2 and then pulls downwardly on the locking element30, causing the member 31 to project over the edge of the head and withthe ledge or shield 26,,hold the receiver from falling. As the element30 is pulled down the tail 40 tending to swing the latch 39 will causethe tongue 42 to project. into the opening 43' and as the tongue willthus tend to engage the wall of that opening or in other words, a partof the coin chute 38, when an attempt is made to pull the lockingelement upwardly, the point of engagement of. the tongue with the coinchute beingbeyond the pivotal mounting of the latch will result in theelement 30 being locked against an upward movement, thusholdingthereceiver against removal from the ichambel 23. It will be clearlyseen that if an obstruction were placed in the path of movement of thetongue 42, projecting through the opening 43, that this would result ina swinging of thelatch to move the tongue out of the vertical plane ofthe coin chute, when an upward movement is imparted to the lockingelement 30. Therefore until an obstruction is provided the receiver willbe locked and in the position shown in Fig. 1.

The obstruction to be PlOViClECl, however, is the com 44-, and when thesame is dropped into the slot 37, by the party called to the telephone,the coin, dropping into the coin chute and held therein by having an ecge resting against the latch and by guideways 45 on the chute, willconstitute the desired obstruction, and being now engaged by the tongue42', whencthe element 30 is pulled upwardly, the resultant swinging ofthe latch will permit of swinging the element 30 out of engagement withthe telephone receiver so that the latter can be removed from itsformerly locked position and used in the usuat manner, the coin in themeantime dropping into the chamber 22, forming a coin receptacle asmentioned heretofore.

Thus the proprietor of the store is paid for the services rendered incalling the person to the phone. and for each call and service sorendered receives his just compensa tion, deposited in my device inorder that the receiver can be removed therefrom and placed to the earof" the summoned party. Should the coin mechanism for any reason fail toworken account of an over abundance of coins in the coin bOX,,tl1proprietor can, with his'key, unlock and remove the casing fromv theback so that the former can be placed to' the ear and constitute asupplementary receiver, this, however, being only necessary andpractical when it is desired to bring the receiver quickly into useafter it has been. locked and the mechanism, for thementioned or otherreasons, fails to operate. I

Should malicious persons or children tamper with the element 30,.whenthe device is not in use, and perchance pull downwardly upon the formerthus locking it so thatthe receiver cannot subsequently be placed withits head in the chamber 23, itv will be clear that it is only necessaryto insert the finger through the opening 21 to press down. on the handle41 and, move the latch so that the element 30 will be unlocked and.canbe raised to permit of inserting the head of the receiver into thechamber 23'.

In the modified form. ofv the invention,

sists of a metallic box like structurehaving 130 which has beenillustrated in Figs. 6 and 9 a removable pivoted top 53, securedthereto,

said top being normally-locked in'the'casing by the lock mechanism 54,but may be readily removed from said casing so that the interior of thelatter will be readily accessible. A plate is secured to the top 53 andis employed as a seat for the reception of the telephone receiver56,;when the latter is positioned upon the casing for'the abovespecified purposes. I

Secured to the under face of the top 53, and normally lying Within theinterior of the casing 50, is'a frame 57, to which is pivotallyconnected a receiver locking element 58, the latter comprising a collarshaped gripping member59 which is employed to surround the lower end ofthe receiver, as shown in Fig. 7 when in an active position. The element58 also embodies a depending arm 59, which extends into thecasing 50through a slot 60, formed in the top 53 and is rigidly or integrallyformed with the collar shaped gripping member 59. A stud 61, projectingoutwardly from the frame 57, forms a support and a fulcrum for thelocking element 58, and the latter is provided with an offset lockinglug 62 which codperates with the upper extremity of a locking latch 62,pivoted as at 63 to the frame 57 when the receiver 56 is locked inengagement with the casing.

A coin chute 64 is rigidly secured to the locking element 58 and theupper coin receiving extremity 65 thereof is positioned in alinementwith a coin receiving slot 66 formed in the top 53, when the element 58is in a locked position. The lower extremity of the chute 64 terminatescontiguously to a slot 67 formed in the lower end of the arm 59. Thelatch 62 is provided with a tongue 68, which, when the latch is in alockingposition, extends across the upper portion of the slot 67,. so asto be engaged by a suitable coin to effect the release of the receiver,in a manner to be presently set forth. A coiled spring 69 is wound aboutthe stud 61 and normally exerts a pressure upon the element 58 so thatthe latter will be maintained in an elevated or inactive position, whensaid element is permitted to operate independently of the latch 62.

Briefly stated, the operation of the modi fied form is substantially asfollows: The receiver 56 is locked within the collarshaped grippingmember 59 by inserting the lower end of said receiver within the chamberof said collar. The element 58 is then lowered until the receiver restsupon the plate 55, which permits the latch 62' to gravitate into lockingengagement with the lug 62 of the arm 59, thus preventing the collarfrom moving upwardly and thereby retaining the receiver in a lockedcondition.

engagement therewith, said collar may be readily'unlocked by operating-alever 71, rigidly secured to the latch 62". This action is accomplishedby providin'gan opening 7 2 in the plate 55, whereby the lever 71 may bereadilyactuated without removing the top or cover 53. After the coinshave fulfilled their function in unlockingthe receiver, the same willdrop into the bottom of the easing 50, and maybe readily collected byoperating thelocking mechanism 54 so that the top or cover 53 may beremoved from the casing. V f

-Having described my invention, Iclaim '1. A device for telephonereceivers comprising a casing for the reception of the receiver, a framein the casing, a locking element pivoted on the frame, and havingengagement with the receiver to secure the same in the casing, a latchfor holding the locking element against movement, a support, and meansfor looking the casing to said support.

2. A supporting and locking device for telephone receivers embodying aback, a casing removably connected with the back, and having a chambertherein for the reception of the receiver, means for locking the casingto the back, a locking element for holding the receiver in said chamber,and means cotiperatlng with the locklng element to secure the locklngelement against move-, ment.

telephone receivers'embodying a casing adapted to have the receiverconnected therewith, means for locking the receiver to the casing, aback, and means for locking the casing to said back.

4. A supporting and locking device for a body comprising a casing, anapertured partition therein, a-locking element, a pivoted memberarranged adjacent theaperture in the partition to be manually operatedwhen the body is not connected with the casing and adapted to cotiperatewith said locking element for locking the body to said cas- 1ng.

5. A supporting and locking device for a body comprising a casing forsupporting the body and formed to provide a passage for gaining accessto'the interior of the casing when the body is disconnected from saidcasing, a locking element insaid casing, a latch adapted to cotiperatewith the locking ele- 3. A supporting and locking device for ment andaccessible by way of said passage,

said body when connected with the casing obstructing the passage toprevent access to said. latch.

6. A supporting and locking device for telephone receivers comprising acasing for the reception of the receiver and adapted to form acontinuation thereof to provide an ear piece and means for looking thereceiver and easing relative disengagement.

7. A device for telephone receivers enihodying a casing for thereception of the re ceiver, a pivoted lockingelement operable forsecuring the receiver to said casing, 21- l-atch co-acting with thelocking element for retaining the latter in locked position, means tomod on latch with which a coin engages for causing an automatic releaseof the same from the locking element, and means carried hy said latchfor permittingof a manual release of the latch from said. lockingelement substantially as and for the purpose specified.

8. A device for telephone receivers em" hodying a, casing for thereception of the mas-332i receiver, a locking element for securing thereceiver locked to said casing, a coin chute on said element, a latchforholding the locking element in locked position, and a tongue formedintegral with said latch and arranged to project into the coin chutesubstantially as and for the purpose specified.

9. A device for telephone receivers comprising a casing for thereceptionof a receiver and having an opening, a pivoted op erating elementoperable for securing tr receiver to said casing, means preventing theoperation of the locking element previous to the deposit of a coin, andmeans disposed in juxtaposition with the opening of said casingforpermitting of a manual release of the former mentioned m ans from thelooking element.

In testimony whereof I Eti'fiX my signature in presence of twowitnesses.

FREDERICK siviirrr.

Witnesses (l. Ci-ins'rnn CRAIG, MATTHEW G. SIMON,

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents;

Washington, I). 0.

